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Overview

Robert J. Sternberg is Professor of Psychology in the Cornell Human Ecology college at Cornell University.  He was previously Provost, Senior Vice President, Regents Professor of Psychology and Education, and George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair of Ethical Leadership at Oklahoma State University. He also is Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University.

He was previously Dean of Arts and �鶹��Ƶ and Professor of Psychology and Education at Tufts University, and before that, IBM Professor of Psychology and Education, Professor of Management, and Director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise at Yale University. He is a Past President of the American Psychological Association, the Eastern Psychological Association, Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain �鶹��Ƶ, and the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, as well as Treasurer of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. He has been Editor of Perspectives on Psychological Science, Psychological Bulletin, and The APA Review of Books: Contemporary Psychlogy. He holds 13 honorary doctorates and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and �鶹��Ƶ and the National Academy of Education.  

His awards include:
William Stern Award, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, 2023; Florence L. Denmark Award for Significant Contributions to Psychology, Psychology Department, Pace University, 2019; Grawemeyer Award in Psychology, 2018; William James Fellow Award, Association for Psychological Science, 2017; Ernest R. Hilgard Award for Lifetime Contributions to General Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division of General Psychology (1), 2017; Distinguished Service Award, International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2011; Presidential Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contributions to the Public Understanding of Psychology, American Psychological Association Division of Media Psychology (46), 2008; Sir Francis Galton Award, International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, 2008; E. Paul Torrance Award, National Association for Gifted Children, 2006; Interamerican Psychologist Award, Interamerican Society of Psychology, 2005; Arnheim Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2005; Anton Jurovsky Award, Slovak Psychological Society, 2004; Arthur W. Staats Award, American Psychological Foundation and the Society for General Psychology (American Psychological Association Division 1), 2003; Farnsworth Award, Division of Psychology and the Arts (10) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; E. L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award, Division of Educational Psychology (15) of the American Psychological Association, 2003; Positive Psychology Network Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award, 2002; Outstanding Academic Title, CHOICE (American Library Association) for International handbook of giftedness and talent, co-editor, 2001; Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award, Connecticut Psychological Association, 1999; Palmer O. Johnson Award, American Educational Research Association, 1999; James McKeen Cattell Award, Association for Psychological Science, 1999; Distinción of Honor SEK, Institución Educativa SEK, Madrid, 1997; Sylvia Scribner Award, American Educational Research Association (Division C), 1996; International Award, Association of Portuguese Psychologists, 1991; Award for Excellence, Mensa Education and Research Foundation (MERF), 1989; Citation Classic Designation, Institute for Scientific Information for Intelligence, information processing, and analogical reasoning: The componential analysis of human abilities, 1987; Outstanding Book Award, American Educational Research Association for Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence, 1987; Research Review Award, American Educational Research Association (co-recipient), 1986; Distinguished Scholar Award, the National Association for Gifted Children, 1985; Cattell Award, Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, 1982; Boyd R. McCandless Young Scientist Award, Division of Developmental Psychology (7) of the American Psychological Association, 1982; Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology, American Psychological Association, 1981; Sidney Siegel Memorial Award, Stanford University, 1975; Wohlenberg Prize, Berkeley College, Yale University, 1972.

He is a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and �鶹��Ƶ and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He also is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists.

Sternberg's Google h index is 251 his i-10 index 1394, and he has been cited roughly 269,000 times in the scholarly literature.

He has been listed as a "highly ranked scholar" 
by scholargps:
Lifetime: Listed #2 worldwide in the field of psychology by ScholarGPS December 2025;
Lifetime: Listed #3 worldwide in the social sciences by ScholarGPS December 2025;

and by
Listed #14 in the world and #5 in the United States for “Top Scientists in the Field of Psychology” by December 2025;

He is the #1 cited author over the past 10 years by global h-index corrected for self-citation and local g-index in the Journal of Intelligence; #2 in global h-index in the journal Intelligence, in which he does not regularly publish (); He has been listed in the ; He has been listed in the top 2% of scholars in citations in the field of education by Stanford University, November 2020, ranked #3 in citations in the field of education; He has been listed as one of the "", 2019; He has been listed as one of the “The 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists” by The Best Schools, 2018; listed as one of the “Top 33 Psychologists for Psychology Textbook Citations”, Griggs & Christopher, Teaching of Psychology, 2016, 43(2), p. 114 (ranked #5); listed as one of the “Top 100 Psychologists of the 20th Century,” APA Monitor, July/August 2002, p. 29 (ranked #60); listed as one of the 200 most eminent psychologists of the modern (Post World-War II) era by Diener, Oishi, Park survey in Archives of Scientific Psychology (ranked #61); ISI Highly Cited List in Psychology/Psychiatry (2003–) (based on scientific citations 1981–1999); listed in the Esquire Register recognizing the achievements of outstanding American men and women under 40, 1986; Listed as one of the 100 “Top Young Scientists in the U.S.,” Science Digest, 1984.

Research Focus

My main research interests are in intelligence, creativity, wisdom, thinking styles, leadership, love, jealousy, envy, and hate.  I have taught courses in most of these areas, as well as in cognitive psychology, educational psychology, introductory psychology, lifespan development, adolescence, and professional socialization.

We believe that there is much more to intelligence than what conventional standardized tests test. Many of my current collaborative research projects with my colleagues are on adaptive intelligence—how we use our creative, analytical, practical, and wisdom-based skills in order to make the world a better place.  We have devised measures for measuring adaptive intelligence and also are interested in teaching for it. Additionally, we are doing work on transformational giftedness—how people can use their gifts to transform the world in a positive way, rather than using those gifts transactionally, merely for the benefit of themselves and members of their perceived “tribe.”&�Բ�����;

I am the author of over 2,500 publications and, as a principal investigator, have received more than $20 million in grant funding.